Otago mum's plea after bullet fired through daughter's bedroom window

The bullethole left in the bottom right pane of the top left window. Photos / Pam Jones

A Central Otago woman is pleading with hunters to take more care around rural residential areas, after a bullet went through her daughter's bedroom window.

Deb Robb noticed a broken window in her daughter's room last week and initially thought "that's weird" but on closer inspection thought it looked like it had been made by a bullet.

She contacted police and later found a bullet casing in the bedroom, which police confirmed had come from a .22 rifle.

Robb said it was probably fired sometime on January 2, possibly while her daughter was asleep.

Springvale woman Deb Robb looks up at her daughter's bedroom window through which a bullet was fired. The bullet went through the bottom right pane of the top left window. Jan 10.

A week later, she is speaking out in an effort to persuade hunters to take care when shooting.

"To start with I thought I wouldn't say anything but then, the more I thought about it, I thought I couldn't face it if someone was hurt from me not saying something."

The bullet casing was found just underneath her daughter's window, but if it had continued its trajectory it would possibly have ended up on her daughter's bed, at the end where her head lies, Robb said.

Their house is on Springvale Rd, near Clyde, and borders the Alexandra Airport.

Robb said she assumed the bullet had come from someone shooting rabbits on the airport reserve. Looking back through the hole in the glass, the airport reserve can be seen through the trees that surround the Robbs' property.

Central Otago District Council property and facilities manager Mike Kerr said recreational shooting was not permitted anywhere on the 80ha council-managed airport reserve.

"We know that people in the past probably did [shoot rabbits] there when the airport was undeveloped land with only two or three hangars.

"But we've slowly been trying to inform the public as the airport develops, to get the message out that no shooting is allowed.

The bullet.

"Like any other area of land, shooters would need to get permission before going shooting at the airport, and we would never give permission, we would always say no."

Central Otago sub-area supervisor Senior Sergeant Clint Wright reminded hunters they needed to follow the "cardinal rules" when hunting, including shooting in a safe direction, identifying targets, and not shooting near residential properties.

"This kind of thing [the bullet on the Robb property] can turn into tragedy, and without intention [from the hunter]."

Robb said she hoped hunters would heed the warnings.

"If it just makes a few hunters think 'hang on, we might be a bit close to houses here' and everyone in the community shares this story and has a bit of a think about it, then it's good to have spoken out."